Atlus Can Freely Use Sega's Resources, Dormant Sega IP - News

When Sega purchased Atlus' parent company, Index Coproration, some Atlus fans worried about the effect Sega would have on the popular niche developer. Famitsu interviewed current Sega Sammy Chief Operating Officer and new Index Corporation president Naoya Tsurumi and in the interview, he assauges any potential fears while discussing how the new Sega/Index dynamic is working.

"As a new company, we will venture together, with Index working as an independent company," Tsurumi said. "The plan is to have Atlus and Sega continue shining as brands, while aiming to increase their degree of independence."

"Everything will remain the same. The people of Index will continue working thoroughly, and Sega have no plans to undertake any of their work. However, we’re at a point where Sega is offering Index to freely make use of any resources they may have, that Index does not. Index will be keeping many of their fine qualities, such as Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei IP, and many others."

Interestingly, Tsurumi also mentioned that Atlus could have access to some of Sega's IP catalog. When asked about adding Atlus' skills in the RPG genre, Tsurumi responded by saying "While we have no intention of forcing this, we’d definitely love to have them utilize any of Sega’s dormant IPs."

Sega has plenty of IP that haven't seen many releases in recent times. Valkyria Chronicles, Space Channel 5, Sakura Wars, Jet Set Radio, and Shenmue are among the more well known ones.